It’s pretty well-known that kids and electricity aren’t a good mixture. Exploring little ones can easily come into contact with electrics and put themselves at risk.
According to Electrical Safety First , around two thirds of mums and dads do electric work as part of preparing for a new baby. However, they often skip the easiest ways to ensure their home is safe.
To help you make your home safe for little ones, we’ve come up with 3 tips for keeping kids safe around electricity.
1. Ensure you have RCD protection
RCD stands for residual current device. It is a safety device that disconnects electricity automatically if it detects a fault. If you touch something live, like bare wiring, an RCD will try to break the connection before you get a severe electric shock.
RCDs are frequently installed in fuse boxes, where they can protect multiple circuits and their components. You can also get RCDs wired into sockets and portable RCDs that plug into sockets if your fuse box doesn’t have them.
Lots of people decide to use socket covers if they have little ones. However, the best thing you can do is ensure that your electrics have RCD protection. A socket cover doesn’t dramatically improve safety and won’t prevent an electric shock if the electrics aren’t safe.
2. Don’t mix electricity and water
The majority of people are aware that mixing water and electricity is dangerous and will keep electrics out of the bathroom. However, it’s often forgotten that water and electricity can mix outside the bathroom.
If children have been in the paddling pool or bath, check that they’re completely dry before letting them near electrics. Wet hands on electrics can lead to dangerous shocks. You should also make sure that drinks don’t end up close to gadgets like TVs and speakers.
3. Keep appliances turned off
If you have children around your home, it’s best to keep your appliances turned off when you are not using them. If you do this, it means that they won’t be as dangerous if they get wet or broken.
You also should ensure that you don’t keep device wires, like laptop chargers, plugged in and turned on. Little kids may put them in their mouths, which can be dangerous.
Putting these 3 tips into practice should help you ensure that your electrical installation is safer for kids. If you need some help from an electrician or want to find out if you have RCD protection, we’re here to help. Fill in our online form and we will put you in touch with up to 4 local electricians.